LATEST ADDITIONS

Premiere Design
Win Analog S & V Series Monoblocks
Scott Wilkinson  |  Feb 16, 2011
Note: This is NOT an UltimateAVmag.com contest; the name of the company profiled here is Win Analog.

One of the coolest-looking single-ended triode (SET) monoblock power amps I've seen in a long time comes from California-based Win Analog. Two versions are available—the S and V Series.

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Portable Player ReviewsAudio Video News
Comcast XFINITY TV APP Streams onto the iPad
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Feb 16, 2011

If you're a Comcast subscriber and an iPad user, make sure you download the XFINITY TV app. While not the streaming app widely hoped for, it's at least partially there. The killer feature is that it lets Comcast subscribers stream TV to their iPad from anywhere there's a WiFi signal. No 3G streaming yet. Before you get too excited, there's some limitations.

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Ask S&V
Remote Viewing, Filter Cleaning, Optical Cables
Scott Wilkinson  |  Feb 16, 2011
How do I watch content on my DVR when I'm away from home? How often should I clean my projector's air filter? Why are optical-cable prices so wide ranging?
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Home Theater Geeks Podcast
Podcast 54: Fred Bargetzi & Josh Stene
Scott Wilkinson  |  Feb 16, 2011
Crestron's Fred Bargetzi, VP of Technology (pictured), and Josh Stene, Director of Product Management, discuss the early days of analog audio and video distribution throughout a home, the complexities and advantages of digital A/V distribution, shielded vs. unshielded twisted-pair cabling, fiber-optic cabling, the problems with wireless distribution, bandwidth requirements, HDMI issues, user interfaces, mesh networks, high-end and entry-level Crestron products, and answers to chat-room questions.

Run Time: 51:57

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Audio Video News
Component Audio Bounces Back
Mark Fleischmann  |  Feb 16, 2011
Component audio is coming on strong, says the Consumer Electronics Association. The trade group's 2010 figures show component audio contributing to a 6.2 percent increase in overall home audio sales. A further 11.9 percent increase is forecast for 2011.

While CEA's definition of home audio includes components, compact systems, HTiBs, multiroom, MP3 speakers, and radios, only component audio and MP3 player related speakers showed increases, buoying the entire audio category.

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Premiere Design
Theta Casablanca III HD Preamp/Processor
Scott Wilkinson  |  Feb 15, 2011
Theta Digital is one of the most venerable companies in high-end audio, offering many well-regarded products over 25 years. Even more impressive, many of those products are still available after years of upgrades and refinements. Take, for example, the Casablanca preamp/processor, which was first introduced 15 years ago. Its latest incarnation, the Casablanca III HD, adds HDMI 1.4 I/O and the ability to decode Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Wild Target
David Vaughn  |  Feb 15, 2011
Rose (Emily Blunt) is a free-spirited kleptomaniac looking to pull off the ultimate scam with some forged artwork. When things go haywire, she finds herself the target of a world-class assassin (Bill Nighy) who becomes enamored with the young woman and can't fulfill his contract. This sets off a bizarre series of events that will change their lives forever.

It's rare to find an intelligent comedy since Judge Apatow transformed the genre with The 40 Year Old Virgin and its sophomoric humor. While there are definitely sexual undertones in this story, they are subtle and aren't the central focus. On the other hand, Blunt is one of the most beautiful women in film, and seeing her in 1080p is reason enough to check out this spectacular encode.

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Audio Video News
Criterion Brings 150+ Films to Hulu Plus
Stan Horaczek  |  Feb 15, 2011

Criterion has proven time and time again that they can do incredible things regardless of media. Now, they're expanding their streaming efforts (some of their titles are already available on Netflix's intant option) with the help of Hulu's pay subscription service.

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Audio Video News
1080p LCD Rules the Roost
Mark Fleischmann  |  Feb 15, 2011
The most popular resolution in LCD HDTVs is now 1080p. The majority of LCD sets sold last year have 1080p resolution, Quixel Research has revealed in its LCD TV Market Review.

While 1080p was already dominant in 40-inch-plus models, it is now dominant in all models, as of the fourth quarter of 2010. The market share of 1080p was 51 percent in 2010 overall and rose to 54 percent in the fourth quarter of that year.

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The Big Picture
Grammys 2011: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Scott Wilkinson  |  Feb 14, 2011
My favorite awards show of the year is the Grammys, because it's all about music and musicians, and except for the occasional backing track, all the performances are live. I've attended the show twice, but aside from the excitement of being with 20,000 of my closest friends at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, I prefer to watch at home, where I can control the volume and see the performers up close in high-def.

This year, the show was held on Sunday, February 13, and I have to say I was disappointed overall, though there were a few worthwhile moments…

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